Ralegh
Posts: 1557
Joined: 2/1/2005
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I am trying to think through how the AI should in an ideal world reason its way through detailed battle, and have put together a bit of a logic flow. I would appreciate some help from y'all... other ideas/comments/suggestions?
Each division should have a strategic allocation:- Line of battle, or pinning force, they aren't moving until we go to the PURSUIT phase. Some cavalry may end up in the line of battle if we needed to rush to occupy a certain hex, but they aren't usually intended to be here. All artillery will be in the LOB.
- LOB supplementary - these guys can fire into the enemy, but aren't holding the line themselves. They can give up their position to plug a whole in the line or make an opportunity raid. How many there are (if any) depends on terrain.
- Battle-line reserve - these guys are dedicated to swapping out for divisions in the battle line who need to be replaced. Sometimes they are in LOBsup positions, but usually they are resting, waiting for their turn drawing fire. Usually 1 division for every 4 in the battle line. Cavalry can do this role quite well.
- The manoeuvre force, or strategic reserve, exists to either be sent as an outflanking force, or exploit a breakthrough, or replace units being pulled back to regroup, or to counter an enemy outflank/breakthrough. It is common to use cavalry as a manoeuvre force - a high movement allowance is critical. [Note that an outflank often this involves turning the end of the enemy battle line and rolling it up, not necessarily coming in from the rear].
Phase 1: Initialialise
During this phase of the battle we are looking for the best terrain to fight on. We will either pick some terrain and set up there, or advance on the enemy and set up wherever we encounter them. The decision is mainly based on the correlation of forces, and whether we would mind the battle going multiple days.- Defend - this relies on the enemy to come to us. We are choosing the ground, and they will choose when (or even if) to approach our line.
- Advance to Contact - Choose line and order of advance(s)
¨ On terrain of our choosing near the initial point of contact or
¨ In contact with the enemy
[Note: if the enemy are advancing too, then there will be something of a rush to get the best positions. If they are in defence, we should approach more judiciously. For example, we might change into line formation before closing.
Characteristics of a battle line: - Anchored ends
- Protected territory behind the line for units to regroup and to hold caissons.
- No gaps for enemy cavalry to ride through.
Terrain evaluation for battle line - Focus on features to anchor ends of the line
- Anchors reduce risk of enemy turning the end of the line: ideal anchor is impassable terrain (either a mountain range or a lake) for say 6 hexes.
- Distance between the anchors depends on the formation size - no more than 2/3 the units should be used filling the hexes between the anchors
If one (or in the worst case both) end cannot be anchored, should "make" an anchor with units.
In evaluating different possible battle lines, evaluate the hexes that will be able to fire into the enemy, and the enemy hexes that will be able to fire onto the battle line. Ideally we want to be able to fire with lots of our units, while the enemy do not have many places they can shoot back from. [This is the influence of ridge lines]
Decide on how to populate the battle line - Any artillery should be sited on ground level, with flanking infantry so that they are screened.
- Any points that can be fired upon by lots of enemy should only be populated if necessary to hold the line, and should be held by defensive units
- Fill in the battle line and any additional points that could fire into the enemy battle line or units to their rear with our better offensive units in the areas best suited to attack, and worst units in the areas with least aggressive potential
- Evaluate tempo - sometimes rushing a cav into a hex is vital to get the position right… sometimes infantry have to occupy a position you would have rather reserved for arty
- The battle-line reserve will be one division for every 4 in the line.
Phase 2: In battle:- If there is a hole in our battle line, can a unit that is not in the battle line plug it - if so, it should
- If a unit is disordered, and its chance of reforming would be less than 50%, can we pull it out and plug in another division? If so, it will regroup, and the division from the reserve will replace it. If not, it will rest
- If a unit is fatigued and shaken, it should rest
- If a unit is part of the battle line and has no target, it will rest
- If a unit is not part of the battle line and has no target it will rest is it is shaken OR fatigued - otherwise it will join the reserve.
- Units who are drawing enemy fire (ie. Say 3 fire attacks?) should rest. If possible, they should put out skirmishers.
- For every enemy division that is either:
¨ Artillery that is not screened
¨ Disordered but unbroken
If a unit could charge them, allocate one to do so. EXCEPTION: a unit should not charge if successfully doing might create a breach in our battle line that is not blocked. If this could happen, use a reserve ro block the potential breach.
- Remaining units will make fire attacks:
¨ Should be concentrated on the lowest morale ordered unit
¨ Multiple fire attacks should be made into that unit
¨ Units should rest rather than fire if they are fatigued OR shaken UNLESS there is a decent chance that their attack will disorder or break the target unit
Special actions:- Surround - sometimes an opportunity arises to surround an enemy unit (ie. They have impassable terrain and our units completely around them). If the opportunity arises for an elite enemy unit, it should be taken, and the surrounding forces will pour fire/charges into the unit, resting as necessary, until it either surrenders or is completely destroyed. By definition, an elite unit costs 40 or more textiles to build.
- Opportunity raid - sometimes an opportunity arises to attack a unit behind the enemy line - typically, artillery, supply, and disordered units trying to recover. Forces should not be sent on such a raid unless there are reasonable prospects of bringing them back [this is the avoid clever traps provision].
- Screening - if they are not in a protected reserve area, every caisson and artillery unit should have 2 or 3 (depending on terrain) screening units, preventing them from being charged. These may be regiments, or very weak divisions - but must be in order. (Garrisons can do this well). If our reserve is penetrated, screening units should immediately move into place. [Note: unscreened artillery goes over to the enemy. The enemy should have to destroy the screening force before charging the artillery or making it surrender. The AI should over-defend it!]
Phase 3: PursuitIf the enemy line disintegrates, and we have a compelling firepower advantage of formed troops, we launch into pursuit. In pursuit, we abandon our line of battle and chase the enemy down. We want to prevent them regrouping. (This is BEFORE they call retreat.)- No units change to line formation
- Any units in line formation change to column the moment they cannot use a fire attack on a formed enemy unit or charge a unformed enemy unit
- All units initiate charge attacks of unformed enemy units, and look for opportunities to surround elite enemy forces
- Formed enemy units may be ignored if there are suitable unformed units to charge.
_____________________________
HTH
Steve/Ralegh
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Detailed Battle - Tactics: Help wanted! - 
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